World B
by Blitz.Magister
Summary: The Historia Crux went to a lot of places... Provided there was a paradox of some sort. What better place than World B? AU to Dissidia, 12th cycle.
1. Lux Concordiae

World B

Rating: K+(?)  
>Crossover:<br>Final Fantasy XIII-2 &  
>Dissidia : Final Fantasy<br>Characters: Serah, Lightning  
>Summary : The Historia Crux went to a lot of places... Provided there was a paradox of some sort. What better place than World B? AU to Dissidia, 12th cycle.<p>

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><p>AN: Hey guys! Totally random idea, right? Yep! I was playing Dissidia, and I guess the cycle or war could be classed as a paradox of sorts (though we know what's causing it and all) and since Serah and Noel are looking for Lightning, shouldn't they look there? Well, if you're reading, enjoy! Slight spoilers for Dissidia, read at your own risk!

Also, HP attack wise, none of them have any Eidolons (revealed) yet, as Lightning's HP attacks are Odin's... I'm making them up for now. Hope you don't mind! Oh and more action scenes, so please tell me what you think?

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><p>If the text is in brackets; it's the place name.<p>

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><p><em>If it's in italics, it's a whisper. You'll know who is doing the whispering, don't worry.<em>

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, games or terms used here (like manikin, Historia Crux). They belong I whatever clever bloke thought them up! Or Square Enix, whichever you prefer.

**Chapter 01 : Lux Concordiae**

(Dream's End)

They fell from the sky.  
>And landed on their backsides.<br>Serah was the first to stand up, frowning and looking around. Mog flew upward next to her and 'Kupo'ed in confusion. Noel wasn't far behind. They appeared to be standing on a floating stadium of sorts. Upon looking down, jumping into the swirling orange didn't look too appetising.  
>To say they were puzzled was an understatement. "Serah, do you recognise this place?"<br>"Nope. It isn't anywhere on Cocoon at least." She shook her head, and then added "But we might as well take a look around. The only reason we can get anywhere through the Historia Crux is if it's affected by a paradox, right?"  
>"Yeah, that's right. So what you're saying is that we should try and help?" Noel folded his arms. "Whatever, I suppose. But remember, the future isn't going to save itself."<br>Serah wandered forward slightly. "Don't think I don't know that, silly. I'm just saying... She might be here and there's no harm in looking!"  
>Mog followed her, then Noel followed suit. He jogged ahead though shortly after, sensing something was not quite right.<p>

A person ran out from behind, a giant sword in the middle, assuming a battle stance. Another jumped from above them, and stood behind, ambushing them. What shocked the two travellers most was that the two people looked exactly the same, and all over their body, covering their clothes was the same colour. In this case, the two 'people' were docked in yellow, belt adorned with numerous weapons.

Noel and Serah looked at each other. Mog turned into a sword. Noel drew his blades and the two paused, silently agreeing to take down one 'person' each. Then Serah cartwheeled out of the way of a spinning axe and slashed the back of the manikin. Hearing a distorted grunt from the 'warrior', she jumped back and threw a water spell at it. The manikin, after it had recovered, jumped up and fired a bolt of electricity at her. Serah, unsuspecting the bolt, fell onto one knee. She turned her sword to a bow, and fired off three shots before standing and kicking the thing in the face.

Noel, however, wasn't having as much luck. The manikin he was facing seemed to be stalling, annoyingly dodging all of Noel's attacks. Even spells he fired that chased the thing were blocked and sent flying back to him. Getting extremely ticked off, he jumped and stabbed his sword to the ground, casting Slow. His time spent training as a saboteur was obviously not wasted. The manikin at first stopped completely in shock. He took this as an opportunity to let out a full combo of dual-wield greatness on it.

However, no matter how much the two fought, they couldn't seem to get rid of the enemy. They could feel themselves getting a bit stronger, but the Imitation Liegemen never fell.

Serah almost gave up, but as the manikin got a spare moment, it changed it's posture and drew it's bow, it pulled back a glowing arrow, ready to hit Serah. She jumped out of the way, with the arrow flying clean past her shoulder. She had clocked it.

"Use a different attack! Something special! That's what'll do the damage!" She told Noel as Mog turned into a bow. Leaning back slightly and looking up, she fired her best shot; Ultima Arrow. The manikin was skewered, and broke into yellow fragments when the arrows faded. Smiling to herself, she turned, ready to finish the other one off, but then she saw that Noel was already finishing up.

He did something quite simple. All it took was a bit of fiddling with his swords until they merged into a spear like object, jumped up, cast Aero and threw it down. The result was a spinning blade that chopped nicely and cleanly through the Liegeman.

Mog morphed back and the two carried on, muttering about how weird their foes were. They showed up at a cavern moments later. Next to them was a treasure chest and a strange symbol. [Stigma of Chaos: marks end of floor/gateway] First, Noel wondered where that creepy castle went, but then he saw the treasure chest.

"I like this place already! Free stuff!" He went and grabbed what was inside.

"A Sirius? (Gun) Well, better than nothing. You want it? I don't know how to use a gun very well."

Serah gave him the _look._ The kind of look only a woman could pull off, and Noel sheepishly put the gun in his bag.

"So... Any idea how we get out of here?" He asked.

"There's nothing else here except that... thing. I'll go check it out." She tapped it cautiously with her foot. "Woah!"

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><p>(Elven Snowfields)<p>

When the two could see again, they were in some tall grass near a mountain.

"Kupo?"

"What?"

"Kupo ku- kupo!"

"I still don't get it Mog..."

"Shut up Noel. Let's go find some people."

In silence they walked eastwards, towards a volcano crater. A few more of those soldiers showed up, one of which had a stupidly long sword, as Noel pointed out. They carried on until they reached another gateway.

"It says that this gate is called," Serah checked the sign. "'Gateway to the Sanctuary'. Hm... Worth a look? It's got this smoky stuff around it. Does that mean something bad?"

Noel shrugged and tried to walk through it, but was met with a brick wall. "Ow! We could walk straight through the other ones!" He whined, rubbing his nose.

"But they had a blue symbol on them. Maybe that's it. The one we went through got one too, but before it must have been like this." Serah smiled. "Let's go, silly."

Her and Mog tapped the symbol and disappeared inside. Noel ran in behind them.

"Be careful!"

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><p>(The Rift) [Warning, this scene uses recycled dialogue from the game; Scene: <em>Main Scenario 012:Treachery of the Gods – 032: The Long Way Around<em>]

Noel and Serah hid behind a wall once they heard footsteps. _Shhh! _Serah put a finger to her lips.

A tanned young man came in from the right, then asked a woman with black hair, "Hey, uh... Tifa? You figure they all made it to Cosmos by now?"

_I'm assuming that's Tifa then._

_Noel! I'm trying to listen!_

"Hmm, I guess they could have. You must be tired, huh?"

He put his hands behind his head. "Of course I am. Laguna led us down the scenic road. I don't know what you were thinking."  
>Another man, Laguna, they assumed walked in from behind and added, "Yeah, I, uh, coulda sworn this was the quick route. Guess not." He shrugged his shoulders and grinned.<p>

_I think he's the joker of the pack, eh, Mog?_

_Kupo. _Mog nodded.

"Yeah, guess not." The blond haired man added in irritation. A woman in a blue kimono looked anxious, and asked, "Well, it can't really be that much farther from here, can it?"

_Bless her, she sounds quite frightened. _Noel folded his arms. _Are we gonna find anything useful here?_

"I think I've seen this place before." Laguna, cheering up, piped up and said, "Right! See there? Yuna knows what's up. We went a little out of our way, but we're still on track, no need to complain."

The blond however, squinted and told Yuna, "Yuna? You ought to let him know what you really think. It's for his own good."

Serah looked around a bit. Then she saw a familiar red fabric. _Is that...?_

"Lightning, time to stop sulking." A masculine voice came from the left of the pinkette.

She unfolded her arms and turned, annoyance evident on her features. "Who's sulking?"

He too, unfolded his arms, then claimed, "Had Laguna not taken charge, we might well never have made it this far."

Serah tapped Noel, who was looking the other way.

_Seriously, Serah, is that her? What's she doing here?_

The man in purple armour walked towards Lightning, and spoke, "Perhaps his words were mostly false. But even so, they moved us, and that's why we're here."

Lightning looked away. "I know that. Thanks for the refresher." She paused. "Kain. Cosmos called us again. Why do you suppose that is?"  
>"Who knows?" Was the only reply the ex-soldier got.<p>

"I want... I intend to win this fight." She corrected herself. "I win, and I get my memory back. I get to go back home. I keep telling myself that, just like everyone else. But you know, now that I've been here awhile... Sometimes I wonder if winning really means we'll get to go back home at all. If it might be that winning... won't change a thing. I just... can't help but wonder." She looked worriedly at the clear blue sky surrounding the floating building.

Laguna broke the mood. "What's this? Is it really possible our Lightning's as human as the rest of us?"  
>"Wha-!"<p>

"Look, we've all got our worries, but we're trying to do what we can. You gonna lead us now? Or you leavin' that up to me?"  
>"Anything but that."<p>

"Don't sweat it. We'll figure something out. Long as we stay alive, things are bound to work out, right?"

Kain retorted, more so to Lightning than anyone else. "I'd trust our once wayward guide. He speaks from experience." Laguna looked much smugger at this compliment.

"...Thanks?"

"Shall we then? Relax. Our battle will not be ended so easily."

Lightning had no answer. She stared off into space.

After a brief pause, she said, "No...that it won't."

She walked off.

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><p>Noel had to grab Serah's arm to stop her from running off. Once the six people had left, he raised his voice to normal. "Serah, we can't just go off chasing people! You heard her, no memory."<br>"But Noel, she's my sister! She's gotta recognise me! Are you saying we should just leave her here?"

"No... I didn't- I didn't mean it like that. We're still going to tail them, see where they're going off to. But we can't just go storming in like that."  
>Serah frowned, jerked her arm away and nodded.<p>

The trio walked further into the gate, and it wasn't far until they met the exit, since the six before them had already rid themselves of the strange creatures that lurked in the gateways.

"Let's wait here. We can still here what's going on outside in that Sanctuary place. Once they've gone, we'll go look around."

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><p>(Order's Sanctuary) [See videos <em>012:Treachery Of The Gods – 033 : At Sanctuary and 034 : The Goddess's Light <em>for reference to the events transpiring here.]

The voices the spies heard were muffled, but they got the gist of whatever the other people were saying. They had missed a bit of conversation at the beginning, but they saw a beautiful woman with flowing blonde hair gaze over her warriors, then let out a stream of blue light to her troops.

The light enveloped around the people there, and without a word, they left, smiling.

"What was that?"  
>"Looked like a ritual of some sort..." Serah looked to the ceiling. Well, gateways don't really have a ceiling, so she looked upwards. "Should we go ask that woman?"<br>"Sounds a bit rude, charging in on her though."  
>"You just think she's pretty, come on you wuss!"<p>

Noel blushed bright red but followed Serah through the exit. Upon walking on the water that flowed on the floor, the woman sensed them.

"I know that you are here. Come here, young warriors."

Serah and Noel cringed. They thought they were stealthier than that. They ran to the centre, not wanting to keep the lady waiting.

"You... I do not recognise you. What are your names, if I may ask?" She sat on the armchair beneath her.

"I am Serah, miss."

"And I'm Noel. Noel Kreiss."  
>"I am the goddess of harmony, Cosmos. It is a pleasure to meet you. Now please, tell me. How exactly did you get here? This is a dangerous world, ridden with warfare. <em>He<em> told me that it is impossible to leave nor enter, unless summoned my me, Chaos or the great dragon."

"Well..."  
>"Um..." Noel started scratching his head. "It's a long story, but basically Serah and I, are going throughout time in our world, because our future is apocalyptic. On the side, though, we're looking for her sister. Lightning. Have you seen her?"<br>Way to go being subtle, Noel. Serah reminded herself to kick Noel later.

"Yes, I summoned her not too long ago. Your story interests me. You have to solve paradoxes too, correct?"  
>"How did you know that, miss Cosmos?"<br>"I _am _a goddess, Serah. I find out a lot of things."  
>"So why did you ask us?" Serah was once more confused. If she knew about us, why ask us?<br>"To see if you are trustworthy. It isn't very often when I do not have a knight by my side, so I am quite vulnerable at the moment. It wouldn't do to kill of harmony, would it now?" Cosmos smiled, but she smiled weakly. She knew all too well what the fates of these two travellers would be, should Chaos or Shinryu catch them. She then noticed how worried Serah had looked when she said she had summoned Lightning to fight for her. "Do not worry so much, Serah. The Lightning I summoned here is not the same as the one you are looking for. I was not the one to rid her from your world."

"Then who could have taken her?" Noel added, slightly angered that the Goddess looked unlikely to give a straight answer.

"That is to do with the laws and gods of your world. I cannot change what was done there, but I could observe some of it. Now, I hate to ask this of you, but you two are going to be looking for a way back to your world now, correct?"

The goddess was answered with two nods.

"Please, could you help me? I have been at war with Chaos for so long. All I wish for is some freedom. My warriors have gone forth to fight Chaos's army, but I know the six you saw before coming here have a different fate. Please, could you help them? You will be travelling all over this world, a portal to your time must be somewhere. I fear for their existence."

Upon hearing this, the two looked up. Was she really serious about this? Not their lives, but their _existence_? Noel looked more shocked than Serah. Serah acted before Noel could think to.  
>"Of course. It's in both of our best interests. So could you tell us about this world? We saw men who looked exactly the same, and they both tried to kill us!"<p>

"Ah, those are manikins. They take on the appearance of warriors summoned here, and fight like them two. They appear to be Chaos's main source of power. They inhabit the land and the gateways and will attack anyone who comes near them. They also appear to take on a different colour depending on which world the original came from. There shouldn't be any that look like you, either, since you just arrived."

"Is there anything else we should know? Does anyone else live here?"  
>"No. There are a few Moogles that run shops for Kupo Points (KP), and an equipment shop here, but no one else lives here. Oh! How silly of me. Here's a map of this world. We can't have you getting lost now can we?"<p>

A map appeared in Serah's hand. She opened it and read it aloud.  
>"Order's Sanctuary. We're here, right? We came from the Elven Snowfields, and past there is Melmond Fens and Cornelia Plains. Straight north is the Land of Discord. I'm assuming that that is Chao's headquarters. Near there, going east is the Bahamut Isles and the Mirage Sandsea. Where will those guys be headed?"<p>

"North is your best bet. Not all of them have another person from their world on Chaos's side, so they might be headed straight for the god himself." Cosmos added. "Thank you, you two."

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><p>The two walked away from the goddess, who needed to rest.<p>

"Helping a goddess, eh? Didn't know I had it in me."  
>"Quit being so smug! We have people to save!"<br>"Now look who's trying to be a hero!"

"Oh! Almost forgot!" Serah jumped and kicked Noel in the shins. "That is for being oh-so subtle back there. Let's go, slowpoke!"

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><p>AN : I'm going to stop it there. So, did you guys like it? And yes, I do like using official dialogue in the very few fanfictions I have places, by the way, are all from Dissidia, so for people who don't like names of places, here's a quick guide.

**Dream's End** – Place where you fight Braska's Final Aeon in FFX, and resident stage for Tidus, Jecht and Yuna. The one that looks like a stadium? The giant sword in the middle's hard to miss.

**Elven Snowfields** – On the world map. It's where Tifa goes at one point, and it is the mountain surrounded by grass. It looks cold there. Know it yet?  
><strong>The Rift –<strong> Not quite sure about it's relevance in FFV, not played it, but resident stage for Bartz, Exdeath and Gilgamesh. Giant floating castle, moving pillars everywhere! The stupidly blue sky is rather, uh... noticable.

**Order's Sanctuary** – Quite obvious. Cosmos's homebase. The water on the floor and green Quickmove lines make it recognisable.

All the notes on the videos? Get out your copy of Dissidia 012, go to the main menu, hit Collection (The one with Yuna by it), go to museum, and theatre. Alternatively, go into Story Mode, _012:Treachery of the Gods_ – The Twelfth Cycle and Prologue – Path to the Sanctuary and watch it there. It's one of the first videos you see in the game, so you shouldn't have missed it.

Thank you for reading the start of _World B!_But it would be even cooler, if you dropped a review! So please?

Betaed by the wunderbar Titoes. ;)


	2. Reform

World B

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><p><strong>02 - Reform<strong>

Disclaimer: I own none of the aforementioned characters, places and such. Square Enix, not me.

**Warning- **To those who haven't reached the end of the bridge in Oerba in FFXIII and beaten the boss there, Lightning's real name is mentioned. **Warning.**

A/N: Thank you to the one person who reviewed! I am going to continue this, so... Enjoy! Sometime soon on my Deviantart (the link is on my profile, set as the homepage.) I might be posting mock-up menus, if I feel like it. These menus'll have their attacks and such. Might even mock up a fake eyecatch. :P If I had _loads_ of time I might even edit the opening of 012 to put Serah and Noel into it, but that'd take months. :) This chapter is still 3rd person, and the events during this chapter take place during Chapter One – A New Threat of the -012- scenario. You might need your PSPs at the ready for some references...

I'm trying to keep this as true to the original as possible, but there are some changes. I have done my research, don't you worry.

Long author note done, on with the show!

_Italics, thoughts._

**Bold, Places or Time changes**

Underlines, Author notes (in brackets) for references to 012.

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><p><strong>Reform<strong>

Serah and Noel walked away from Sanctuary, the goddesses' parting words to her previous warriors echoing in their minds.

_You must defeat the god of discord. Stop Chaos, and end this conflict..._

They headed towards a gateway by the lake, hot on the trail of Lightning and the others. Serah wondered how she was going to introduce herself to her sister. _Will she remember me? What if she thinks I'm for Chaos? She's never seen me at the Sanctuary, so she might not... _trust _me..._

Noel, sensing this worry, put his hand on her shoulder. "We'll deal with it when we see them, right? That Laguna guy looks like he'd trust us."

"Thank you, Noel. I guess I just worry easily." She smiled back.

"Kupo!" Mog added.

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><p><strong>With Lightning, Laguna, Tifa and Vaan<strong>

_Cosmos, the goddess of harmony, imbued us with the power she said we would need in order to fight Chaos._

_What she gave us was something we had no way of using on our own-divine energy that would rest inside us, awaiting the proper catalyst._

_According to her, it was a strength that would be tempered through battle-by our own wills-and would eventually coalesce to form a crystal._

_As she told it, that crystal would then grant us, her soldiers, power to rival that of the gods themselves._

_So, simple as that. Fight the armies of Chaos, collect your crystal, and go take down the god of discord._

Lightning mused. _Pff, what a load of rubbish. We decide what we do._

She and the rest were walking away from the sanctuary, towards where a huge mountain once was. They were walking in uncharacteristic silence, probably it was the severity of the task set to them.

They entered the gateway nearby, black smoke wallowing off of the top of it. The sign nearby said it was called the _Crescent Lake Gateway_.

The small gateway was almost empty, except for the group. Something ominous was ahead of them, but they couldn't quite figure out what it was. The group started talking again once they were a bit inside the maze-like area.

"Light's attacks are interesting, huh? My attacks are just kicks and punches." Tifa said, turning to Lightning.

"But those kicks hurt a lot... Tifa, would you stop practising on me?" Laguna shrugged and laughed a bit. The cheerful aura Laguna possessed was cut off by Lightning.

"Quit your yapping. There's something over there."

"Say, Light, could you use that weird spinning move on 'em?" Vaan queried, and put his hands behind his head. (This is talking about the 'Blitz' command.)

"Enough talk, now get ready. We'll cut through them and head on if they're foes." Lightning soldiered on, quietly. Then Lightning was enveloped in a bright flare, and she came to a strange, castle like area. Back in the gateway, her companions looked on horrified through a window like contraption that appeared in front of them.

**The Old Chaos Shrine**

In front of her appeared a pink, crystalline person. It looked much like her, even assuming her battle stance.

_At least that was the plan, as we all headed back to the field of battle once again._

_What we found, when we got there was something else entirely: opposition of a form we never could have expected._

"What is that...?"

The copy, an unintelligent version, of course, ran straight towards Lightning. It tried to use Blitz, but Lightning dodged easily. However, the two gunshots that followed hit her in the shoulder. It wasn't enough to severely wound the battle hardened warrior, but the momentum pushed her over.

Within seconds she was back on her feet, weapon drawn.  
>"An enemy, then, huh?" Lightning smirked. The manikin didn't realise the trouble it had just landed itself into, it's glass face solemn with no emotion.<p>

Lightning copied a similar tactic to the manikin, except she ran up to the manikin, and before it could react, flipped over the top of it.

Upon her feather-light landing, she proceeded to Blitz it and shot it twice, square in the back. It was slammed against the wall and before it recovered, the now annoyed Lightning yelled, "Have some more!"

At the pinkette's command, the Zantetsuken blades from her home world materialised in her hands. She threw her arm back and thrust it forward and around with all her might. A pink shock-wave echoed through the air and hit the imposter square in the back.

Rose petals froze in the air as the manikin cracked and crumbled.

Another flare. This time Lightning closed her eyes.

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><p><strong>Near the Crescent Lake Gateway<strong>

Serah and Noel wandered towards the gateway.

"Do you suppose we'll see any more manikins?"  
>"Of course, they're sweeping the world. That's what Cosmos says." Serah was quick to answer, her memories sharp.<br>"But she said that they're weaker at the moment. Time for some training!" Noel looked behind him, to his twin blades resting on his back.

"You're ready too, aren't you, Mog?"

"Of course Miss Serah! Kupo!"

"Y-y-y-y-you can t-talk?" Noel staggered back.

"Obviously. Didn't you know?" Serah giggled.  
>"No! He never spoke when I was looking for you!" Noel shook his head.<p>

Serah looked up the hill. Ruins. _I wonder what happened there. But, I can't help think this is weird, I mean, warriors summoned to another world where no one else is? What kind of god of discord is this? This world is post-apocalyptic. Worse than Noel's future, even._

She looked to the sky once more.

_Lightning... I hope you don't turn me away. Not again._

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><p><strong>Crescent Lake Gateway<strong>

Met with a group of worried faces, and various comments such as "Are you OK?" or "What happened Lightning? You're not hurt, are you?", Lightning stood up to her full height, finding herself crouching.

"Seems like they're enemies... What a bunch of creeps." She stated. She too, was confused. Why did it look exactly like her? Questions raced through her mind, but she couldn't waver, not with these three counting on her.

"What are they? ...People? It looks just like you, Light." Tifa asked. Lightning didn't remember telling Tifa she could call her Light, but she decided to let it slide. Just this once.

"We just got Cosmos's powers, and now – some new enemies, huh?" Lightning added. She was so confused.

"You think Cosmos might have any ideas on what they are?" Tifa finished.

Lightning knew they could hardly go back to Cosmos so soon after leaving, so the team carried on.  
>Soon Lightning was thrown into another battle.<p>

**Old Chaos Shrine**

This time a purple manikin appeared. Surrounded by several orbs glowing with power, it hovered centimetres over the ground. Lightning was not intimidated by this flashy display of power. Her gunblade made all too quick work of the show-off. (Capricious Reaper)

She had no time to react before she was forced to battle a second pink manikin. This one looked different, however. It held a bow and arrow, and was shorter than the previous one. It still held the blank expression of the previous ones, but Lightning could recognise the features of this manikin.

It was someone from her world, surely. She knew that much. But no one resembled that at the Sanctuary, so was the original an enemy?

She couldn't question the copy with her eyes enough, however. It was far away, but pulled an arrow from behind itself and aimed at Light. It flew straight past her head. Lightning didn't even flinch.

A warning shot, that was. If Lightning didn't escape, that arrow would not miss again. Lightning readied her gunblade. It was only a manikin, after all.

She decided to start off using magical attacks, so she set off several Fire spells as a preliminary assault. Even if they never made contact, they would distract the glass figure.  
>Running through the flames, she jumped back just before she got to the imitation, and let off a barrage of sword strokes and gun shots, then flung it into the air. Chasing the manikin, she struck it with Zantetsuken and sent it crashing through the ceiling. That had to sting.<p>

Still it stood up when it recovered, and Lightning was already on the roof by the time it was standing. Enveloped by a purple glow (Synergist), it cast a red aura on itself, then a blue, then a green. Haste, Enshell, and Empower respectively. Within seconds it turned back to a red circle paradigm. It was going on the offensive. It flicked it's wrist and it's bow turned into a sizeable blade.

Within another flick of the wrist, it charged forward surrounded in a grey swirling aura. A blitz of some sorts, Lightning, though she recognised the attack, couldn't block the strike and the two arrows that followed, which launched her into the air.

Lightning hovered in the air, but couldn't recover. The manikin jumped, switching to a blue ring (Ravager), then sent off a massive Firaga spell.

Lightning was hit with the inferno, and flew crashing to the ground. Whilst lying there, she made an effort to get up.

"Ugh..."

The manikin stood over her, and kicked her gunblade out of reach. The bow returned to a sword form, and it stuck it in the ground.  
>It laughed. It's crooked, distorted voice, that sounded like nails on a chalkboard was laughing with sadistic glee.<p>

It stopped laughing, however, when a silver arrow raced past it's face. It looked behind Lightning, some anger evident in the speed it turned it's head.

"You leave her alone! And quit copying me!"  
>"Yeah! What she said. Wait- does that mean my manikin is pink too? Aw man!"<br>"This is no time to be complaining! Light needs help!"

The two ran over. In a flash of blue and purple, the manikin was no more.

* * *

><p>Serah ran over to Lightning, who's consciousness was fading by this point. "Light? Lightning? Can you hear me? It's me, Serah. You... You're going to be OK!"<br>Noel was checking no manikins were nearby then ran back to Lightning.  
>"There we go, Light. Good as new, right?" Noel said as he administered a potion.<p>

Lightning sat herself up after this, and caught her breath. Serah and Noel stayed quiet. Lightning got a better look at her saviours. Serah wore a pink and white dress, her bow and arrow gone. A different kind of moogle as those seen in this world was floating near Serah. The man's outfit was primarily blue, adorned with various tribal designs. It's almost as strange as Cecil's armour, she noted.

She reached for her gunblade, but sighed as she had to stand up to get it. When she obtained it, she checked it for scratches or dents. Finding none, she turned back to the strangers. The weariness from her last battle was wearing off, and she had started to think more like the solider prowess she was known as.

"Stay back! Who are you two, really? How do you know my name? You're for Chaos, aren't you?" She asked, assuming a battle stance. If they both killed that manikin within seconds, there was no telling how dangerous they were.

"Hold on there. Don't just to conclusions." Noel stood just in front of Serah, for he hadn't known Lightning for very long, but he knew enough to say she was dangerous when cautious. "I'm Noel. Noel Kreiss, this is Serah. We're both warriors, like you, but we were late to the Sanctuary, is all. Shouldn't you just be grateful we saved you back there?"  
>Lightning remained still, standing her ground. She didn't believe what they were saying, not truly.<br>"Noel, let me handle this. We got dragged here, to be truthful, Lightning. We're from your world, and from what we've gathered, we're not really supposed to be here. But we're working with Cosmos, that's all. Please, believe us." Serah added, and Lightning felt a twinge of guilt seeing her distressed. _What? Why do I feel guilty? I'm Lightning Farron, darnit!_  
>She sheathed her gunblade, and crossed her arms. "Hmph. Well, you can come with us then, but one sign of trouble and you're gone, Gottit?"<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Crescent Lake Gateway<strong>

"You're back!" Laguna exclaimed, smiling. "We thought you were, you know. The screen blanked out after you fell on the floor." He shrugged.'"Guess not."  
>"Yeah, we were worried. You're OK now though, right?" Tifa looked more concerned that the others, and put a hand on Light's shoulder.<br>Vaan, however, was the only one who saw the two people Lightning came back with. "Who're these guys? I haven't seen them before."  
>"They're Noel and Serah. They say they're from my world. I doubt it, but they can fight." Lightning said before Noel could give his trademark introduction.<p>

"Anyway, I think that was the last munchkin left. So onwards to the exit!" Laguna started running towards the swirling red and black mass that marked the end of the gateway.  
>"It's manikin, idiot! Even I know that much!" Vaan ran after him.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>World Map-Ancient Volcano Ring; Gulg<strong>

"So now we're out, where to next, chief?" Tifa smiled.  
>"It's not that I have a bad sense of direction, I just like all of the directions." Laguna defended, his hands on his hips.<p>

They continued to walk around the hill, choosing not to visit the ruins there. Tifa commented that that was too depressing. As they trekked on, Vaan and Noel were having an interesting conversation about their respective worlds, or what Vaan remembered.

"So, you're from the future, right? That's cool! So what sort of things happen in Serah's time?" He asked. Compared to the military mess that was Vaan's world, this Gran Pulse place didn't sound half bad. Other than the whole 'The world's going to end' thing, of course.

"Yeah, it isn't too great there, but hopefully if we defeat Caius it'll get better. I hope, anyway. Things are kind of quiet in Serah's time, from what I saw. They're still settling in on Gran Pulse, after Cocoon fell. But, we've been all over the place, so I suppose it could have changed by now." Noel folded his arms. "What about your world, Vaan?"

Vaan shrugged at Noel's question. "I have no idea, not really. I lived near a desert, that's all I really know. I don't think there's anyone on Chaos's side from my world though. So I don't know how I'm supposed to get my memory back. I really think that it's the Chaos warrior from our world that took our memories, you know? I mean, we only seem to remember stuff after we see them, or fight them. Makes sense, you know?"

"Fair point there. But you'll get you're memory back sometime. I mean, you've got to, right?" Noel answered, an edge of insight instead of the cocky demeanour he usually spoke with laced his voice.

Heading towards the mountains, the group decided to enter a new gateway, once again surrounded by black fog.

**Sage's Path Gateway**

Once again, the group arrived in a cave like area. They stood on a rocky floor, but the area around them was misty and had ruins floating below. Lightning was still the party leader, and stayed point. She trusted the six other warriors to watch her back, not that it would matter if she came across a manikin again.

She had a choice, as they continued through the gateway, to fight or not. Lightning decided not to bother fighting the two manikins, but Vaan did comment when she explained to the group, "Light's special attack is so cool. Where do those petals come from anyway?"

Lightning ignored the tanned boy's question. "Enough small talk... Just keep our eyes front."

A few manikins later, Lightning caught up with Tifa, who had scouted ahead. "I have a bad feeling, Light. That Chaos insignia..." she mused. It was different, somehow.

"I see what you mean, Tifa. I feel an unrivalled evil from it. Is everyone prepared? Something's in there." Lightning asked the remaining group, looking especially at Laguna, who at this point was standing near the edge of the rocky path, thinking about what lay below him. Laguna, however, was unaware of the 'Claire Glare' he was getting.

Everyone else in the group checked their weaponry. Tifa checked her gloves were on properly, adding a few test punches to check. Vaan summoned a rifle, then a sword, then his crossbow. Finding everything in order, he dismissed them in a poof of yellow smoke. Serah asked Mog something, and was replied with a quick 'Of course, kupo!'. Noel reassured himself his two swords were on his back, and then the group nodded. We'd have to hope Laguna's guns were working then. Lightning tapped the insignia.

* * *

><p><strong>Lunar Subterrane<strong>

**[Scenario 012 : Treachery Of The Gods – Cutscene 039: Fleeing the Puppets]**

The party was wondering about the manikins when they appeared in the Lunar Subterrane, part of Cecil, Kain and Golbez's world.

"Those manikins sure are weird..." Noel noted. "But we haven't seen any of me, yet, thank Etro."

"But on to a more important question..." Serah said quietly, but Vaan spoke first.

"What... What are those things?"

Laguna turned around, aware he had been transported without prior consent. This didn't matter to the soldier, though. "Hmm... they look like carbon copies of us to me." He answered with his signature shrug.

"Thanks for the inside perspective." Vaan replied sarcastically.

Turning back to seriousness, Tifa added, "This is getting us nowhere. They just keep coming and coming!" She looked to the floor.

Lightning was thinking again, but this time, out loud. "Manikins... A never-ending pool of reinforcements. What good is Cosmos's power, if we can't even make it out of here to use it?"

A voice came from above them. "Well, well... if it isn't Cosmos's warriors, marching straight into my arms of their own accord!"

The warriors looked to the offending individual, who had appeared on a platform above them along with a strangely dressed clown.

"Been a while since we've seen anything but puppets." Lightning said, monotonously to Chaos's goons.

"Really? Could it be you're... out of steam?" The deranged clown laughed. His extensive use of hand gestures credited his insanity. "Oh you poor dears. I mean turn around!" He jumped back, wiggling his fingers as if to show off. "You still have more manikins waiting for a chance to play!"

Vaan and Noel both turned around and yelled, "Oh no. Not again!" They mimed immense depression, when really the two hadn't fought at all much, so they wouldn't have minded. The clown was rubbing off on them. Lightning stood forward, assuming a battle stance. "I'll take care of these. You guys deal with the others behind us. Do not let them surround you!"

"Oh no you don't! I'm fighting too, Light!" Serah ran forward too, Mog turning to a bow.

"Yes ma'am! You just leave your escape route to me!" Laguna bowed.

"Light, Serah... If things look bad, get out." Tifa told the sisters.

Noel looked at Serah. "Don't get into trouble now, you hear me? You sure about this, Serah?" Serah just looked at him. "All right, all right. See you in a while, ok?"

All but Serah and Lightning ran off to face the hoards of manikins.

Kefka tiptoed up behind Kuja, then raised his arms. "Well, Kujie-coo... It looks like now's the time for you to show us what you can do." Kuja looked dreadfully unimpressed by the clown's gestures and tone of voice, to say the least. "There's only two of them too, you know?" Kefka added as if telling a secret. Kuja waved him off, annoyance all-too obvious.

"This is your chance to shine!" Upon the word 'shine', Kefka did a star jump. Kuja groaned.

"Will you not stop talking?" He facepalmed, while Kefka skipped alongside him. "It gives me a headache everytime you open that mouth of yours."  
>Kefka's craziness was starting to show. "Now!"<p>

"I do not take orders or cues from you, Kefka. I will engage them when I choose, and how I choose."  
>Kefka was not in the mood. "Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, whatever. I'll, just shut up and watch you do your thing, okay? Just get on with the showing-me-that-you-can-actually-put-up-a-fight part already!"<p>

Lightning and Serah couldn't help but chuckle at the two villains arguing. As uncharacteristic as it was for Lightning to laugh fully, she smirked and was giggling inside. Kuja noticed the girls smiling and frowned.

"I don't recognise the shorter one, but I'll still eliminate you both. Lightning with no sky in which to hide... No choice now but to fulfill your destiny... and fall."

Lightning and Serah frowned and gripped their weapons tighter.

* * *

><p>Laguna, Tifa, Vaan, and Noel were running, readying their weapons on the move, for they had no time to waste, the manikins were closing in fast. Laguna, with his long range weapons, started to fire at the ten manikins that were taking the front. One, a cyan coloured youth, shattered from a few bullets. But still, the group would be overwhelmed shortly.<p>

Tifa ran ahead, firing off a Blizzard spell before she kicked the hell out of a light blue manikin with flowing hair and an impressively long sword. It shattered within minutes of this. Her next target was a purple imitation, a woman with wings. The manikin fired heavy assaults of pointed energy, which Tifa swiftly dodged. Tifa pushed her out of the way after she was in midair, sending it crashing into one of the stone pillars.

Vaan seemed like he was having a load of fun, just sending one pale green woman into the ground with his Greatsword, then turning to send off a red manikin in the form of a young girl with a crossbow. Upon landing, an orange manikin jumped back and attempted to charge at him. Vaan blocked it with his shield, then send it flying upwards with a quick sword stroke.

Laguna brought out his Ragnarock cannon to unleash a thick ray of blue light upon several manikins, but they dodged. Noel jumped in, however, to catch the rebound. Letting loose a heavy combo with his red blade, he proceeded to chain it with another attack; making both swords a spear and sending that flying horizontally across all of the manikins, making a skewer of three. The group's combined actions had quelled a fair proportion of the manikins, but they still battled on, determined to let none reach Lightning or Serah.

* * *

><p>Kuja was relentless, even Lightning had to admit. The sisters' attacks were doing nothing to stop him unleashing magic barrages. Several times had the Lightning have to switch to heal the two. Even with Serah occasionally Haste-ing the two, Kuja was growing unstoppable. Serah raised the Mog-Sword to the sky, and once it glowed with Holy energy, struck Kuja in the back. He stumbled, then turned and one combo later, Serah was flung backwards.<p>

"Are you ok, Serah?" Lightning questioned, moving towards the sister she didn't know she had.

"I- I'm fine, Lightning." Serah reassured as she got up. Lightning, in anger dashed up to Kuja, hit him twice with the Blazefire Saber, then summoned Zantetsuken to deal roughly fifteen blows of Lightning-powered damage.

"How'd ya like that, huh, punk?" Lightning smirked as her normal sword returned.

Kuja was standing up, panting. Then he collapsed on one knee, black smoke coming off of him. He was fading.

* * *

><p><strong>[Scenario 012 : Treachery of The Gods – 040 : Defeat is Not Death]<strong>

"Oopsie! Someone went and lost, didn't he? You know what they say about second place: completely pathetic!" Kefka shook his head at the musician. "Meh. Don't sweat it, a little thing like that's not going to be the end of you." Kuja disappeared from view.

"Should be the end of that rebellious phase of yours though!" He bent over in demented laughter. "The next time you fight, it'll be study time! All over again!"

Lightning and Serah were still hiding behind a pillar at this time, and were confused at this clown's monologue. As they walked to confront Kefka, they heard him chuckle out loud, "Oh, what kind of deliciously depraved memories should I fill you up with this time around?" he turned as he heard the two's footsteps. "What! You're still here?"

"You'd let your friend die?" Lightning questioned.

"You're not too much different from those manikins!" Serah added in frustration.

"And that is the reason you're still standing now." Kefka wrote them off. "Shouldn't you be kissing my boots in appreciation?"

"How dare you..." Lightning muttered.

"Why I oughta..." Serah gave Kefka dagger-eyes.

"Besides, it's not like he's really gonna die from that. Let him be, he'll be back."

_He's not dead? _The same thought ran through Serah and Lightning's heads.

"Now now, don't you go prying into that." Kefka said as he floated upwards on his side, scratching his butt. "Even if I went to the trouble of explaining, you'd just forget! Well, it's been lovely, but being me doesn't mean I'm free. Good-Byeee!"

"Hey! Wait-!" Serah tried to reach out, but he was gone. _What do you mean...?_

"What in the world was that about?" Lightning asked. "Any ideas, Serah?"

* * *

><p><strong>World Map-Ancient Volcano Ring; Gulg<strong>

"Hey, do you suppose that Tifa and the others are alright? Maybe we could meet up at the Sanctuary, Lightning."

"Hm. I suppose that sounds good. Hopefully they'll think of that."

A moogle was floating nearby. "Is that a... shop? Yes it is! Lightning, come over here!"

"Welcome! What would you like today?" The moogle said.

After looking through it's extensive collection of swords, summonstones and extra abilites, the two found they hadn't got enough gil, but promised to return when they did.

**Gateway of Fools and Hope**

**[Scenario 012 : Treachery of The Gods – Scene 041 : An Endless Hoarde]**

_Another gateway. Another strange insignia. But this one is... Different. It's a white orb, not Chaos. What could that mean? _Serah was thinking again, whereas Lightning was assessing the practicalities. "No one's here, just manikins again. Come on, we have to get to the Sanctuary.

The two ran through the gateway until they came across a portal of sorts that blocked their way. Finding themselves in the** Old Chaos Shrine**, the two braced themselves in case anyone was to appear. "No matter how many you take down, more spring up..." Lightning breathed out, exhausted.

"Tell me about it si-" Serah stopped herself. Lightning didn't know they were related, and they were far too busy now for Serah even to think about introducing her past. Lightning didn't notice though, as she carried on, "This is bad. Doubt they could've gotten past this many."

_Did she mean- No. No! They can't be gone! Cosmos said that they'd get into trouble with something big! Not some little hoard of manikins... Wait. Does that mean, Noel is..._

Serah's worries were interupted as they walked forward. A crystalline copy of what was probably Noel had appeared in front of the throne. Luckily for him, he was coloured a more reddish pink. But pink, nonetheless.

Lightning pointed her gun at it, looking around. Serah noticed it too. To the side of them, a blue warrior stood.

"You ready?"  
>"Don't worry, I've got your back, Light."<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Old Chaos Shrine - Roof<strong>

**[Scenario 012 : Treachery of The Gods – Scene 042 : A Traitor]**  
>Serah and Lightning carried on walking through the castle.<p>

"Kain?" Lightning noticed the dragoon standing behind a piece of ruined wall, expression solemn.  
>"You made it out." Lightning sighed with relief.<br>"What about the rest of 'em? Vaan, Tifa..." Serah asked, but she did not know Kain much at all.  
>"Bartz! Someone got him?" Lightning ran over to the wanderers' body.<br>Kain muttered, silent to those who didn't listen out for it, "Yes."  
>"Bartz, stay with us!" Serah pleaded, kneeling alongside him.<br>"Kain... You... why did you...?" Bartz tried to speak, but was already unconscious.  
>"What-" Lightning squinted.<br>"Lightning! Look out! Kain!" Serah yelled upon noticing the dragoon's movement.

Lightning cartwheeled out of the way, luckily, or she'd have been impaled on a spear.

"Forgive me, I've no choice." Kain stated.  
>The Farrons shouted in unison, "Kain! What are you doing?"<p>

* * *

><p><em>AN: There is one loooong chapter for you! And please please please drop a review? I want to know how you people think this is going... Too quick? Too slow? (I know it's a long chapter but I wanted to get to this point...)  
>Oh yeah! I tried a few battle scenes in this. And help there?<br>More embarrassingly, I think I've ran out of words to use instead of 'said'... So I probably sound kinda repetitive._

_One last question! Does my writing come off as really British to you? 'Cos in my head I can imagine myself talking like the Queen..._

_Adios! And thank you for reading, now, Review!_


	3. Not a Chapter Notice

Quick announcement for you! I'm not dead!

Also, I'm rewriting this because I really don't like it at the moment. Also, it should get my muse back into it, so I should be able to continue it. I'm sorry for leaving it so long!


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